


Blame

by chancellorxofxtrash (PhoebeMurdivine)



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types
Genre: Canon-Typical Violence, Multi, Night Terrors, Polyamory, Spoilers for both DR1 and SDR2
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-20
Updated: 2017-03-20
Packaged: 2018-10-08 13:01:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,108
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10387206
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PhoebeMurdivine/pseuds/chancellorxofxtrash
Summary: Byakuya Togami did not have nightmares.





	

Byakuya Togami did not have nightmares.

That was an overstatement, of course. Everyone was suspectible to their brains’ whims sometimes, especially when they were not conscious. There had been completely nonsensical nightmares before in his life - easy to brush away. Sometimes even the things he experienced (things that the ignorant masses would describe as _traumatic_ no doubt), such as the fate of his half-siblings, or even some outcomes of the killing game. Brains are like that. They just bring back pictures from the past, twisting it. Not worth dwelling on.

So Byakuya Togami never thought about nightmares - not more than he did about other dreams, be it nonsensical, pleasant, or even erotic. After waking up, these dreams became unimportant.

Why would the Ultimate Affluent Progeny think about such foolish things? He had much better things to occupy his thoughts with, than fleeting dreams.

Byakuya Togami did not dwell on nightmares.

-

_Slam. Slam. Slam. Slam. Slam._

_He heard the rythmic slamming sound, as he ran on the conveyor belt, but didn’t get closer to his goal._

_Slam. Slam. Slam. Slam._

_Was it dark, or was he just not aware of his surroundings? It was hard to tell. But he ran nevertheless, and next to the slamming sound, there was a cruel laughter ringing in his ears, a laugh he knew all too well._

_Slam. Slam. Slam._

_And another voice, desperate, pleading._

**_It wasn’t me._ **

_Slam. Slam._

_He wanted to shout after him, tell him that he knows, that he is changing his mind, just stop, stop, stop…_

_Slam._

_Crunch._

_Complete darkness._

-

Byakuya’s eyes shot open. It was dark in the room, and there was a body in bed next to him, someone with an even breath.

He didn’t look that way. Absolutely not. He knew who was that. He knew he was fine. There was no need for Byakuya Togami to actually check.

So he got out of bed, and went out to get a glass of water.

Not because of concern, obviously. His throat just got dried up.

Which was because of the tropical climate, and had nothing to do with the nightmare.

Byakuya Togami did not need to recover from a nightmare. After all, nightmares were just that - dreams. With no relevance to reality whatsoever.

Even if this one was…

No.

It did not happen.

And even when it almost did, it was years ago. It didn’t _matter_ anymore. So Byakuya Togami did not dwell on things that did not matter anymore.

So, obviously, he was just going to drink, and then go back to sleep, and forget about all this ridiculous dream.

He just had to wash the glass before he did so.

Yes, that was right.

“Byakuya.”

His hand gripped the glass for a few moments before turning around to look at Kyoko - her face unreadable as usual.

“...aren’t you supposed to monitor the cameras?”

“They are all sleeping, it seems like a quiet night. Aren’t you supposed to be sleeping?”

They took turns at staying awake to monitor the cameras.

Even when they all hated the things they were forced to see.

Byakuya said nothing, and Kyoko turned away.

“I am spending my time datamining with Alter Ego, trying to find some information about the virus. Do you want to come while are you awake?”

He should have said no - he should have climbed back to bed, to the warm, sleeping, breathing body, and fallen back to sleep. He was going to be the next one to keep awake through the night.

He put down the glass, and followed Kyoko either way.

-

In the end, Alter Ego did most of the work, the two of them sitting in silence, and Byakuya’s eyes skimmed the monitors, looking at the sleeping figures. Some of them were sleeping as rocks, others actually visited someone to spend the night with, finding comfort in holding someone else close. Byakuya refused to check these cameras out from closer, trying to grant them at least a little privacy, whether they wanted just to hold someone, or do something more.

One of them sleepwalked into their shower, slipped, and then looked around dazed and confused, before climbing back to bed.

And few of them were throwing themselves around, no doubt haunted by the events of the past few weeks.

Byakuya felt Kyoko’s gloved hand slip into his hand.

“Are you going to tell me why are you awake?”

“I simply felt refreshed enough to wake up.”

From the corner of his eye, Byakuya saw Kyoko rolling her eyes.

“Byakuya what did we talk about emotions, be it your own, or other people’s?”

Byakuya could feel the corner of his mouth twitch.

“That I should not ignore them.”

“Precisely. Did you have a nightmare perhaps?”

His hand twitched, and he felt her hand grip his hand a little harder.

“...I dreamt about his execution.”

He didn’t need to say who.

Kyoko was quiet, and Byakuya slowly turned to look at her.

“Do you dream about it sometimes?”

Silence, as the two of them looked into each others’ eyes, and Byakuya knew the answer before she said it.

“It was my fault, after all.”

“You know what he would say to that.”

“I know. That’s why I’m telling you that, and not him.”

“I also voted for him.”

“And he wouldn’t blame you for it.”

“I know. You know how he liked to play it all down.”

-

_After Kyoko brought him upstairs, nobody mentioned what happened. Makoto Naegi shook his head, saying he did not kill anyone, and never once said anything about the fact they sent him to his death, with no concrete proof._

_Not until they were out, and the Future Foundation hailed all six of them up, gave them a physical examination, and promptly lost their shit over Makoto’s state._

_“You have multiple fractured ribs, and other bones of yours had fractured as well. Seriously, Mr Naegi, you need to rest.”_

_Makoto smiled in a sheepish way, as the other five survivors all looked at him incredulously._

_“Ah… I barely even noticed, really.”_

_“You fell down a garbage chute” The doctor looked like he was on a verge of getting an aneurysm. “Of course your landing was hard.”_

_“Ah, but Kyoko also came down…”_

_“My fall was dampened with the trash I went down with” Kyoko’s voice was completely neutral, like usual, but as he glanced at her, Byakuya saw her hand trembling as she gripped the edge of her bed. “You should have said something.”_

_“As I said, I barely noticed” Makoto flailed a little._

_“You have fractured bones. You have proven yourself to be not completely stupid, so why wouldn’t you notice that?” Byakuya’s voice was dry._

_“We had priorities! Nobody would have cared about my fractured ribs, if we all get executed for not discovering all the secrets!”_

_“Please stop flailing Mr Naegi” The doctor muttered, pressing Makoto down to the bed._

_“Dude, the way you were shouting a lot in trials, it’s a wonder that your ribs like… didn’t like broke and stabbed your lung, you know?” Hiro scratched his head. “That would have been really awkward.”_

_“I don’t think that’s how fractures work…” Makoto muttered._

_“It’s our fault, isn’t it?”_

_It was Hina who asked the question, and everyone froze._

_“...huh?”_

_“We voted for you. It’s as good as if we were the ones who pushed you down the garbage chute.”_

_“It’s not!” Now Makoto was flailing again, trying to sit up. “That whole trial was a trap! Not your fault! Blame Monokuma, blame Junko, it’s her fault you know it is!”_

_“Hina is making a good point” Byakuya’s voice was steady, of course. “Before, we never had to face the consequences of our votes. Now here you are, basically forcing us to face what we had done.”_

_“But I am not! Because it was not your fault!”_

_“B-- bu---”_

_At this point even Toko was trembling and chewing on her thumb, and the doctor tiredly clapped his hands together._

_“Alright, if all of you are so intent on playing the blame game, can you do it_ **_after_ ** _Mr Naegi has no more fractured bones? Thank you!”_

_-_

“He never blamed us.”

“Because he’s hopelessly optimistic and naive.”

Kyoko smirked a little.

“Hopelessly?”

Byakuya groaned.

“Please, you know what I mean.”

She knew, and Byakuya knew that. The two of them spent a lot of time in front of the hospital room where Makoto was in, but neither of them went in.

Hina was the first one out of all of them, who got her courage together to visit him, and then she was the one who literally pushed Kyoko and Byakuya inside.

And now, after all this time, here they were.

Kyoko turned back towards the screens, looking at the sleeping figures, her face becoming mask-like again.

“Either way, at least he is sleeping. His sleep patterns had been messed up since we started up the Neo-World program.”

“Indeed. This is something he blames himself for.”

-

_Makoto Naegi was the one who wanted to save the Remnants of Despair, the one who worked the hardest to keep them hidden from their superiors._

_And the two of them followed him._

_“They deserve a second chance” Makoto whispered, as he watched one of the Remnants, surprisingly calm about what was going to happen. “They agreed didn’t they? There must be some hope left inside them, then. Isn’t that right?”_

_Byakuya and Kyoko exchanged a look, but kept quiet._

_(Makoto did not know that the two agreed, that they will do whatever they can to help the Remnants. But as soon as they cross the line of raising a finger against Makoto Naegi, the deal was off. Plain and simple.)_

_(They knew Makoto would have disapproved.)_

-

“...guys?”

The two of them turned back simultanously, as a sleepy Makoto wandered into the room.

“...did something happen…?”

“No. It’s a quiet night. Go back to sleep.”

The answer was a sleepy grumble - Byakuya let go of Kyoko’s hand, so he could allow Makoto to walk between them. Makoto leaned on Byakuya’s side, one hand clinging to Kyoko’s arm, eyes half-close.

“...why did you wake up, then?”

Byakuya opened his mouth, and no words came out, and in the back of his mind, he could hear a slamming sound.

“He was just restless. Would you drag him back to sleep, Makoto? He is distracting me from datamining.”

Byakuya shot a look at Kyoko, who looked back at him like _you’re welcome_ and Makoto just gave out a humming sound, before tugging on Byakuya’s arm.

Who could say no to a sleeping Makoto Naegi?

If the Ultimate Affluent Progeny couldn’t, then no one could.

-

He could have expected it.

Byakuya and Kyoko were a few floors away, working on different parts of the base, trying to help Alter Ego from elsewhere when the phone rang from the control room.

“She’s going to do it, guys. She’s gonna do it. She’ll convince them to graduate.”

Byakuya clenched his teeth, and it was Kyoko who answered.

“We’re going. Don’t do anything.”

“I’m sorry guys. I’m really sorry. But she won’t stop, and I can’t let her do this. I have to go in.”

At this point, Byakuya was already darting towards the stairs, and heard Kyoko run after him, her phone still in her hand.

“Wait for us, Makoto.”

“I’m sorry, I can’t. I… I’d really use you guys’ help. If you’d come. But I… I have to go ahead.”

Then the call ended.

By the time they reached the room where the Remnants were sleeping, Makoto already occupied one of the empty pods.

Byakuya didn’t want to think about the fact that Makoto’s face being illuminated with that pale blue light made him look like he was already dead.

Kyoko only looked at him for a few moments before turning around, making the arrangements for more entry into the program.

“You idiot.”

Byakuya muttered, reaching out a hand, before pulling back either way.

“Kyoko. Do you really think we can trust the Remnants to do the right thing?”

She stopped, and looked at him.

“It’s not about us trusting the Remnants. It’s about Makoto trusting them. We need to trust Makoto’s judgement.”

Byakuya looked back at Makoto’s sleeping face. Every single cell of his body was screaming, his common sense rebelled against the thought of doing this. These people ended the world. Byakuya will put his own life into the hands of the Remnants of Despair.

He allowed himself a single sigh.

“You better not be wrong about it. You idiot.”

Despite all of this, he couldn’t find it in himself to blame him.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading!


End file.
